Crowdfunding platforms raised an estimated $5.1 billion worldwide in 2013, nearly twice the total for 2012. Although most of this booming investment is in private ventures, mission-driven crowdfunding platforms are also emerging on the leading edge of technology, philanthropy, and social entrepreneurship.

With generous support from the Surdna Foundation, our EPIP-NY chapter partnered with Housing Works Bookstore Cafe to host a fascinating panel discussion on crowdfunding for social change. The distinguished panel explored a number of issues in the emerging field and left attendees with a deeper understanding of crowdfunding’s current impact, and its potential for the future.

By Nicole Rose Nieman, 2013 Emerging Leaders International Fellow, Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, The Graduate Center, CUNY “What is the role of philanthropy in the 21st Century?” A friend challenged me before I left my home country, South Africa, for a semester fellowship in New York City this past fall. I came to this global epicenter of philanthropy for a fresh perspective on the role and relevance of ‘the love of humankind’ in an increasingly complex, dynamic global society. Like many before me, I quickly fell in love with the vibrant, unique and dynamic NYC. However, I have been unable to shake certain parallels that emerged so strongly with my beloved South Africa, namely gross inequalities that fall predominantly along racial lines. Not so different Unlike my home country, where violent crime dictates where you can and should not go, I found a new freedom of movement in New York’s city center. However, I was quickly warned where beyond those bounds I would need to be accompanied, even in daylight. As in cities the world over, freedom of movement, for residents and non-residents alike, is restricted along the lines of affluence and race. Even at a glance it was obvious. The way the metro lines deteriorated the further up from Manhattan you went, who used the metro and who climbed out where, where resources were allocated and what it cost to access them, etc. Beneath the shiny surface, these divides appeared well-devised, or at least well-maintained by a powerful set […]
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This post was authored by Surabhi Pandit, Public Policy Fellow at the Council of Michigan Foundations, who shares with us her experiences at EPIP’s People of Color Network Gathering held in November 2013.

I always thought that the cliché phrase ‘you are not alone’ was often overused and never fully applicable to situations when I heard someone say it. When I participated in the EPIP People of Color Network’s gathering last month, I experienced a hodgepodge of unique and unusual feelings from start to finish—those of complete affirmation, solidarity, and camaraderie among complete strangers…and for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel alone.

Last weekend’s events were significant to many of us, myself included. The anti-apartheid and human rights leader, Nelson Mandela – known affectionately as Madiba – was laid to rest by the nation of South Africa. Closer to home, the small Connecticut town of Newtown grieved quietly and privately as our nation recognized the first anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy.Globally, we’ve made progress toward improving the lives of the oppressed. I was fortunate to witness some of these gains firsthand during my travels to South Africa on the 10th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s election victory in 2004 and at soccer’s World Cup in 2010. The sense of accomplishment and unity across races was undeniable at both events.

This post was authored by Lydia Nylander, of the U.S. Department of Justice, who attended EPIP’s People of Color Network Gathering last month.

For me, November in Boston usually generates thoughts of unconscionable temperatures and an abrupt introduction to hypothermia. However, I can only feel that the unseasonable warm weather that greeted me at the EPIP People of Color Network (PCN) Gathering was a sign of how unorthodox my time at this session would turn out to be.

On November 5th and 6th, EPIP held its People of Color Network Gathering (formerly, the Professional Development Fund or PDF) at Harvard University. For those of you who don't already know, PCN offers participants access to professional development training and intergenerational learning opportunities, with the intent of diversifying and retaining people of color within the sector. The content of the PCN gathering itself is three-fold: 1) personal connections to social justice work; 2) understanding structural racism; and 3) bringing this work back home. EPIP’s Executive Director, Rahsaan Harris, acted as lead facilitator, with additional support from Hehershe Busuego of The Boston Foundation.

Martin Luther King, Jr. is the model of a leader. He is the prototype for the kind of leader EPIP strives to create. It is a lofty goal but it is the marker we must set if we are building a movement of people committed to making the world more just, equitable, and sustainable.

I was fortunate to travel to Washington, DC on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Justice. I boarded a bus in the early morning hours of August 28th with my Big Brothers Big Sisters mentee and a former student of mine from my teaching days and his two sons.

This post was authored by Hayley Roberts, Program Associate, Campaign for Black Male Achievement at Open Society Foundations and member of the EPIP-NY Steering Committee. It appears here as part of the EPIP-JAG blogging partnership, “Wit and Wisdom”. For many the “not guilty” verdict handed down in the George Zimmerman trial this summer came not as a shock but as a confirmation that prejudice and racial bias continue to have a very real effect on the way our criminal justice system operates. Others did not understand how accusations of racism could be cast from a seemingly “color blind” trial. This interview with Rachel Godsil of the American Values Institute breaks down the research behind the understanding of implicit bias and how it changes the way we perceive others, even in spite of our best intentions. Though implicit bias can hamper the progress of individual racial relations, it is important to note that the very act of acknowledging one’s own bias can make a huge difference.
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